Psicología Educativa 20 (2014) 47-52

Vol. 20, No. 1, Junio 2014

ISSN: 1135-755X

Psicología Educativa
Revista de los Psicólogos de la Educación

Psicología Educativa Director/Editor

José Antonio León

Directores Asociados/Associate Editors

Inmaculada Escudero Domínguez
Robert F. Lorch, Jr.
José Antonio Luengo Latorre
Pamela Maras
Manuel Martín-Loeches
María José Navas 
Rosario Ortega Ruiz
Fernando Sánchez-Sánchez
Paul van den Broek
Lieven Verschaffel

www.elsevier.es/psed Educational Psychology

A Journal for Educational Psychologist

Academic stress as a predictor of chronic stress in university students

Blanca Elizabeth Pozos-Radilloa*, María de Lourdes Preciado-Serranoa, Martín Acosta-Fernándeza, María de
los Ángeles Aguilera-Velascoa, and Diemen Darwin Delgado-Garcíab
University of Guadalajara, México
a

Clínica Rio Blanco, Los Andes, Chile

b

ARTICLE INFORMATION ABSTRACT

Manuscript received: 12/11/2013 The aim of this study was to examine the correlation and predictive value between the Academic Stress
Revision received: 21/02/2014 Inventory (ASI) and the Stress Symptom Inventory (SSI) in university students and its association with age
Accepted: 26/03/2014 and gender in both inventories. We evaluated a representative and random sample of 527 students at a
public university in 2012. A multiple regression analysis was carried out. The results showed that IEA
Keywords:
situations that correspond to classroom intervention, mandatory work, and doing an exam predict high-
Academic stress
level chronic stress; being a female and 18, 23, and 25 years old were associated mostly to stress. We
Chronic stress
College students conclude that accurate identification of stressors could help understand stress and its harmful effects on
Logistic regression college students.
© 2014 Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid. Production by Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

El estrés académico como predictor del estrés crónico en estudiantes universitarios

RESUMEN

Palabras clave:
Estrés crónico El objetivo de este estudio fue examinar la correlación y el valor predictivo entre el Inventario de Estrés
Estrés académico Académico (IEA) y el Inventario de Síntomas de Estrés (ISE) en estudiantes universitarios, así como su aso-
Estudiantes universitarios ciación con la edad y género en ambos inventarios. Se evaluó una muestra representativa y aleatoria de 527
Regresión logística estudiantes de una universidad pública en el año 2012. Se usó análisis de regresión múltiple. Los resultados
mostraron que las situaciones del IEA que corresponden a intervención en clase, trabajos obligatorios y la
realización de un examen predicen un nivel elevado de estrés crónico; el género femenino y las edades de 18,
23 y 25 años se asociaron mayormente con el estrés. Se concluye que la identificación exacta de estresores
podría ayudar a entender el estrés y sus efectos dañinos en estudiantes universitarios.
© 2014 Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid. Producido por Elsevier España, S.L. Todos los derechos reservados.

Stress is considered to be a physiological reaction of an organism
where diverse defense mechanisms come into play in order to
confront a situation which is perceived as threatening or of increased
demand. Under the “cognitive-transactional model”, psychological
stress according to Lazarus and Folkman (1986, p. 63) is defined as “a
particular relationship between the individual and his surroundings
which is judged by him to be threatening or to overwhelm his
resources and which puts his well being at risk”. Specifically, facing
the typical problems which may be present for students in their
academic environment, stress may be a natural and necessary
reaction for survival in these areas, where different factors are
involved including academic overload, group projects,
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dra. Blanca
Elizabeth Pozos Radillo. Paseo de los Virreyes 706 A-19. Virreyes Residencial.
Zapopan, Jalisco, México. C. P. 45110. E-mail litaemx@yahoo.com.mx
competitiveness, lack of technological resources, lack of supervision,
or insufficient organization of time which produces what is called
chronic stress. (Tapia, Guajardo, & Quintanilla, 2008)
The symptoms of academic stress result in a particularly
worrisome health concern. Not only adults are at risk for stress, the
demands of modern life, even during grade school, have caused the
appearance of this malady more and more frequently in children and
teens, in which both endogenous and exogenous demands interact to
negatively influence the academic performance and achievement of
the students. (e.g., Caldera, Pulido, & Martínez, 2007; Segredo,
Veloso, & Rodríguez, 2004). Specialized literature indicates that
academic stress has been studied in diverse university circles
(Aselton, 2012; Berrío & Mazo, 2011), developing different focuses
and models. One study analyzed the potential explanatory-predictive
effect of daily stress on somatic symptomology of neuroticism
(Santed, Sandín, Choron, & Olmedo 2000). Another study performed
in Mexico by Preciado-Serrano and Vázquez-Goñi in 2010 explores

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pse.2014.05.006
1135-755X/ © 2014 Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid. Producido por Elsevier España, S.L. Todos los derechos reservados.
48 B. E. Pozos-Radillo et al. / Psicología Educativa 20 (2014) 47-52
the relationship between the stress profile and burnout in Mexican
university students, using a statistical regression model in which the
existence of a significant correlation is reported. Other studies are
directly related to perception, life events and school activities (e.g.,
Díaz, 2010; Matheny, Roque-Tovar, & Curlette, 2008; Pulido et al.,
2011; Román, Ortiz, & Hernández, 2008), as well as academic
strategies and school performance (e.g., Broc & Gil, 2008; Caldera, et
al., 2007; Díaz, 2010; Martínez, 2010; Sohail, 2013). These studies
conclude that timely evaluations favor the application of efficient
interventions in order to lower the stress levels, lower the associated
worrisome thoughts and prevent the deterioration of performance of
the students (Caldera, et al., 2007).
Based on these conclusions, the objective of this study was to
examine the correlation predictive value of the Academic Stress
Inventory (ASI) over the Stress Symptoms Inventory (SSI) in university
students, as well as their association with age and gender in both
inventories.
It is appropriate to mention on one hand that in the bibliographic
research no predictive studies reporting the relationship between
ASI and SSI were discovered, and particularly studies related to
university students. Therefore, this study is considered
groundbreaking in the exploration of this relationship.
On the other hand, because the symptoms associated with stress
are present in a high percentage of the population of Mexico, this
study is important in order to support evidence for the transactional
theory of stress and its negative manifestations in academic fields.
We hope that in the near future models can be constructed to explain
the role of the situations and components of academic stress in order
to be able to predict the presence of chronic stress.
The present study has as its purpose to prove the following
hypothesis: the ASI situations (test taking, oral presentations,
classroom participation, seeking help from tutors, academic overload,
overly large class size, lack of time, obligatory assignments,
homework, group projects, and competition among students) are
predictive of a high level of chronic stress (SSI) and are associated to
age and gender of university students.
Method
Sample and Procedure
A cross-sectional and analytical study was performed during the
2012 school year with university students with physical education
and sports majors from a public university in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Total enrollment was 976 students (63% men and 37% women) from
which a simple random selection with an expected prevalence of
64.5% (Marty, Lavín, Figueroa, Larraín, & Cruz, 2005), a 70% accepted
minimum frequency and with 99% precision (Lwanga & Lameshow,
1991), which produced 527 individual interviews of university
students.
The selection of this university population was carried out by
random and proportional numbers, taking into consideration gender
and scholastic cycles. The list of students registered for the 2012 school
year was used to select those who would voluntarily answer the
surveys under an informed consent status. The investigative protocol
and informed consent form were reviewed and approved with
reference number IISO/CI/11/2012-2013 in adherence to the Helsinki
Declaration of 2008 in terms of the ethics of investigation of human
beings.
Measures
The Academic Stress Inventory was used (ASI; Polo, Hernández, &
Pozo, 1999) validated by the Spanish Society of Anxiety and Stress.
This is a questionnaire with eleven situations which were considered
potential stress generators in students in the academic arena. Each
one of the situations offers a scaled answer of 5 points (1 no stress,
5 high stress) where each participant gives a value according to his
or her perception of whether or not it produces stress.
The eleven situations considered to be potential stress generators
are: test taking (EA1), oral presentations (EA2), class participation
(EA3), seeking help from tutors (EA4), academic overload (EA5),
overly large class size (EA6), lack of time (EA7), obligatory assignment
(EA8), homework (EA9), group projects (EA10), and competition
among classmates (EA11). The reliability in terms of internal
consistency corresponds to an alpha coefficient by Cronbach of .90,
which is considered satisfactory. In order to establish association, the
score is converted from ordinal values into a cardinal level of
academic stress in the following way: if the value was 1-2 it was
considered low level; a value of 3, moderate level; and between 4-5,
high level.
The Stress Symptom Inventory (SSI), a questionnaire which was
developed and approved by Lipp and Guevara (1994), contains a list
of 42 psycho-physiological symptoms characteristic of chronic stress
which is based on a three phase model developed by Selye (alarm,
resistance, and exhaustion). In 1988, Dominguez adapted it for use in
Mexico by means of a content validation and reported an alpha
internal consistency rating by Cronbach of .94, which indicates an
acceptable degree of reliability. The classification of high, moderate,
and low levels of chronic stress was carried out by mean and standard
deviation (SD). Furthermore, high level is considered two and three
SD above mean, medium level ± 1 SD and low level stress 2 and 3 SD
below mean (Pozos-Radillo, Torres, Aguilera, Acosta, & González,
2008). Variables gender and age (in five year increments) are also
presented.
Data Analysis
Pearson’s analysis of correlation was used to pinpoint the
information about the predictive value and, in order to determine the
validity of the measurements obtained, we carried out an analysis of
regression by steps for the ASI and SSI by simultaneously introducing
the equation of measurement to the level of significance (p < .05). In
these analyses, the variables appear in order in the equation according
to the percentage of the explained variance.
Afterwards, a hierarchical analysis of multiple regression was
applied to determine the predictive value of the situations of the ASI
in which the Introduce method was used with the ASI situations. With
this procedure, an incremental value of prediction of the variable
included in third place (ASI) was obtained, once the effect of the
second and the first was controlled.
In order to explore the statistically significant difference of gender
and age in chronic stress (SSI), as it relates to academic stress situations
(ASI), the bi-variant associations were tracked through an analysis of
the contingency charts. In these contingency charts the categories of
the ASI and SSI (high, moderate and low) were evaluated and were
transformed into dichotomies, with values of “0” or “1”; a high level
rating was considered as risk. In order to carry out the association of
risk calculation the Odds Ratio (OR) was estimated with a CI of 95% and
a level of significance of p < .05. The data was tabulated and processed
using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), Version 15 for
Windows XP, with university license.
Results
Descriptive Statistics and Correlations
In order to carry out this study, 527 students from a public
university were interviewed, of whom 311 (59%) were women and
216 (41%) men; the age range was 18-33 years with an average age of
21.07 (± 1.80) years. The descriptive analysis of the SSI, according to
the levels present, showed that 35.3% (186) of the students showed a
 B. E. Pozos-Radillo et al. / Psicología Educativa 20 (2014) 47-52 49

high level of chronic stress, 44.8% (236) moderate levels, and 19.9%
(105) low levels. After the analysis of the situations of the ASI, 32.8%
(173) showed high levels of stress when taking a test; 25.4% (134)
from competitiveness among classmates; 18.6% (98) from lack of
time; 18% (95) from oral presentations; 17.8% (94) from overly large
class size; 17.5% (82) from seeking help from tutors; 17.1% (90) from
homework; 16.7% (88) from obligatory assignments; 15.9% (84) from
group projects; and 15.5% (82) from class participation, academic
overload or both. The breakdown and description of this data,
according to gender, is shown in Table 1; the age distribution is
shown in Table 2.
Predictive Value of the ASI as it relates to the SSI
Table 3 indicates the correlations between the SSI scores and the
ASI situations. The analysis reveals that the positive correlations,
which indicated a moderate strength, were situation EA3 (r = .63, p <
.01), followed by EA8 (r = .49, p < .01); the situation EA1 showed a
weak correlation (r = .21, p < .01). Other situations presented a non-
significant correlation with r less than .20: r = 12 for EA2, r = .13 for
EA4, r = .16 for EA5, r = .14 for EA6, r = .11 for EA7, r = .10 for EA9, r =
.16 for EA10. Situation EA11 yielded r = .01, which was considered a
very low correlation and was therefore not included.
The correlation coefficient obtained by analysis of chronic stress
through regression by steps, initially revealed that the situations of
classroom participation (EA3), obligatory homework (EA8), and test
taking (EA1) met the predictive criteria with a significant value (R2 =
.26, F = 13.3, p < .05). The EA3 situation presented a stronger
correlation according to the adjusted R2; in the first model, the last
situation had a 21% SSI prediction, with an F = 25.2 and a p < .05.
Nevertheless, when EA8 and EA1 situations were introduced the
prediction only increased by 5%. The rest of the situations were
excluded because they had either an insignificant or a negative
correlation. The results showed a significant increase in the
explanation of the ASI and SSI, as appraised by the university
students. When the EA3 equation was introduced the additional
predictive value related to the situations EA8 (p < .01) and EA1 (p <
.05), as reported in Table 4.
Analysis of Association for the ASI and SSI with Age and Gender
In the exploration to determine the association between high
levels of the SSI and the ASI situations, with the variable of gender
and age (Table 5) it was found that the high level of chronic stress
(SSI) was related by means of the OR with the feminine gender
variables (OR = 1.47) and with the age of 25 years (OR = 6.3) The

Table 1
Distribution of chronic stress levels according to the levels of academic stress situations and gender of college students at a public university, Guadalajara, Mexico, 2012

Chronic stress levels

High Medium Low

Gender Gender Gender

Academic Fem Mal Fem Mal Fem Mal

stress situations Levels Fx Fx Fx Fx Fx Fx

(EA1) High 46 26 47 24 20 10
Realization Medium 50 19 40 35 21 16
test Low 25 20 42 48 20 18

(EA2) High 32 10 32 10 5 6
Exhibition Medium 51 28 49 45 31 10
jobs Low 38 27 48 52 25 28

(EA3) High 21 19 26 11 3 2
Intervention Medium 41 18 46 39 9 9
in class Low 59 28 57 57 49 33

(EA4) High 30 8 26 21 6 1
Attend tutorials Medium 32 25 40 34 13 14
Low 59 32 63 52 42 29

(EA5) High 23 15 26 11 5 2
Academic Medium 38 21 32 31 16 12
Overload Low 60 29 71 65 40 30

(EA6) High 29 10 26 19 7 3
Overcrowding in Medium 38 28 26 30 16 13
the classroom Low 54 27 77 58 38 28

(EA7) High 27 12 29 19 6 5
Lack of time Medium 37 27 40 34 21 11
Low 57 26 60 54 34 28

(EA8) High 33 7 22 19 6 1
Jobs Medium 37 20 41 39 10 11
mandatory Low 51 38 66 49 45 32

(EA9) High 23 14 35 9 9 0
Tasks Medium 38 17 26 27 17 14
study Low 60 34 68 71 35 30

(EA10) High 28 18 22 7 7 2
Work Medium 27 8 29 24 10 8
group Low 66 39 78 76 44 34

(EA11) High 26 22 40 26 13 7
Competitiveness Medium 38 18 42 31 26 23
between mates Low 57 25 47 50 22 14

Note. Post. Questionnaire data SSI and ASI, Fem = female, Mal = male.
50 B. E. Pozos-Radillo et al. / Psicología Educativa 20 (2014) 47-52

Table 2
Distribution of high levels of chronic stress and academic stress according to the age of college students at a public university. Guadalajara, Mexico, 2012

High levels of chronic stress

High level Age Age Age

of academic 18 -21 22 - 25 26 y +

stress situations Age Fx % Fx % Fx %

(EA1) 18 - 21 44 8.3 34 6.5 17 3.2

Realization 22 - 25 28 5.3 37 7.0 13 2.5
test 26 y + 0 0 0 0 0 0

(EA2) 18 - 21 22 4.2 23 4.4 8 1.5

Exhibition jobs 22 - 25 16 3.0 19 3.6 3 0.6
26 y + 1 0.2 0 0 0 0

(EA3) 18 - 21 33 6.3 23 4.4 3 0.6

Intervention in class 22 - 25 7 1.3 14 2.7 2 0.4
26 y + 0 0 0 0 0 0

(EA4) 18 - 21 27 5.1 26 4.9 5 0.9

Attend tutorials 22 - 25 11 2.1 20 3.8 2 0.4
26 y + 0 0 1 0.2 0 0

(EA5) 18 - 21 29 5.5 22 4.2 5 0.9

Academic 22 - 25 9 1.7 15 2.8 2 0.4
overload 26 y + 0 0 0 0 0 0

(EA6) 18 - 21 25 4.7 29 5.5 7 1.3

Overcrowding in 22 - 25 14 2.6 16 3.0 3 0.6
the classroom 26 y + 0 0 0 0 0 0

(EA7) 18 - 21 28 5.3 28 5.4 9 1.7

Lack of time 22 - 25 11 2.1 19 3.6 2 0.4
26 y + 0 0 1 0.2 0 0

(EA8) 18 - 21 28 5.3 25 4.7 5 0.9

Jobs mandatory 22 - 25 12 2.3 15 2.8 2 0.4
26 y + 0 0 1 0.2 0 0

(EA9) 18 - 21 28 5.3 26 4.9 8 1.5

Tasks study 22 - 25 9 1.7 18 3.4 1 0.2
26 y + 0 0 0 0 0 0

(EA10) 18 - 21 36 6.8 16 3.0 5 0.9

Work group 22 - 25 10 1.9 13 2.5 4 0.8
26 y + 0 0 0 0 0 0

(EA11) 18 - 21 38 7.2 33 6.3 14 2.7

Competitiveness 22 - 25 10 1.9 30 5.7 5 0.9
between mates 26 y + 0 0 1 0.2 1 0.2

Note. Post. Questionnaire data SSI and ASI.

Table 3
Matrix of correlations between the scores on college students to the Stress Symptom Inventory (SSI) and the Academic Stress Inventory (ASI)

ISE EA1 EA2 EA3 EA4 EA5 EA6 EA7 EA8 EA9 EA10 EA11

ISE ---

EA1 .21** ---

EA2 .12** .38** ---

EA3 .63** -.30 -.14 ---

EA4 .13** .08* .14** .35** ---

EA5 .16 **
.01 .17 **
.40 **
.29** ---

EA6 .14 **
.02 .10 **
.38 **
.46** .22** ---

EA7 .11** .08* .15** .33** .31** .37** .25** ---

EA8 .49 *
.06 .09 .05 1.00 **
.74**
1.00 **
.74** ---

EA9 .10 **
-.00 .19 **
.41**
.29 **
.38 **
.32 **
.39** .43** ---

EA10 .16** .05 .06 .33** .29** .29** .34** .26** .34** .43** ---

EA11 -.01** .11** .08* .14** .08* .19** .10* .10** .18** .16** .20** ---

Note. SSI = chronic stress, EA1 = conducting test, EA2 = exhibition of works, EA3 = classroom intervention, EA4 = Attend tutorials, EA5 = academic overload, EA6 = overcrowding in
the classroom, EA7 = lack of time, EA8 = compulsory labor, EA9 = study tasks, EA10 = workgroups, EA11 = competition among peers.
*p < .05, **p < .01.
 B. E. Pozos-Radillo et al. / Psicología Educativa 20 (2014) 47-52 51

Table 4 Discussion
Hierarchical multiple regression analysis of SSI (Stress Symptom Inventory) on each
of the academic stress situations ASI (Academic Stress Inventory)
The study demonstrated that a positive correlation exists between
ISE Beta ET (p) R2 F the ASI and some situations of the SSI, including class participation,
obligatory homework and test taking. The ratings show a dependency
Model 1 .21** 25.2
among the variables, that is, when one increases the other does as
EA3 .21 .04 < .01 well in constant proportion. These results permit us to validate our
Model 2 .24** 16.9 hypothesis. To our knowledge, this is the first predictive study which
EA3 .18 .04 < .01 identifies the existence of a relationship between the situations
which make up the ASI with the level of SSI in university students.
EA8 .12 .04 < .01
The resulting model of this investigation helps to confirm the
Model 3 .26* 13.3
transactional theory of social cognitive focus, where the interaction of
EA3 .17 .04 < .01 the stress variables was emphasized, based on the cognitive processes
EA8 .12 .04 < .01 which developed around a stressful situation as the internal
representation of the evaluations which are peculiar to and
EA1 .10 .03 < .05
problematic for the students and their academic environment.
Note. Questionnaire Data SSI and ASI, EA3 = classroom intervention, EA8 = compulsory Studies about stress (e.g., Arreola-Quiroz & Stucchi, 2010; Matheny
labor, EA1 = conducting test.
et al., 2008; Silva, 2009) mention that Mexico is considered among
*p < .05, **p < .01.
the countries with elevated stress levels. In the United States, 70% of
medical visits are for problems which are caused by stress, and a
quarter of the medications which are sold in that country are
academic stress situations (ASI) that were found to have a significant antidepressants or other types of drugs which affect the central
association were EA1 with feminine gender (OR = 1.48) and with the nervous system (Aselton, 2012; Cox & Mackay, 1981). Regarding
age of 23 (OR = 2.09); for EA3 the association was established with academic stress, previous studies have proven that stress is present
the age of 18 (OR = 2.89) and for EA8 only the feminine gender was in educational environments and furthermore that it is more frequent
significant with an OR = 1.70. The other situations did not show any with homework and tests, the lack of time to complete assignments,
significance with the variables of age and gender. and not having understood the material (e.g., Díaz, 2010; Pulido et
al., 2011; Román et al., 2008). Some factors are the cause of important
Table 5
differences in results such as those related to the different study
Association between high levels of chronic stress (SSI) and academic stress (ASI) in plans of the educational institution the students attend and which is
relation to age and gender of university students from a public university in the objective this study, since the educational model is oriented to
Guadalajara, Mexico professional competence, where not the tests but the students’
classroom participation is considered to be the best means of
Variables High level p OR CI (95%)
evaluation. Another probable cause for these differences is the
SSI (Chronic stress) variation in the study design, most importantly those who were
Gender female 125 .03* 1.47 1.02 - 2.14 involved in other situations which tackled the issues differently, and
Age 25 years 8 .00** 5.06 1.32 - 19.32 the tendency of the students to have poor academic achievement
(e.g., Broc & Gil, 2008; Caldera et al. 2007; Celis et al., 2001; Díaz,
ASI (Academic Stress)
2010; Martínez, 2010; Navea, 2012; Sohail, 2013).
EA1 In our study we also observed a significant association according
Gender female 113 .04* 1.48 1.01 - 2.16 to the OR between the levels of chronic and academic stress (EA1 and
Age 23 years 29 .00** 2.09 1.21 - 3.61 EA8) in women as compared to those of men, which therefore
implies that closer attention should be given to this population of
EA3
students. In other studies it has been found that the feminine gender
Age 18 years 16 .01* 2.18 1.19 - 7.01 present a higher risk of stress (e.g., Costarelli & Patsai, 2012; Leiner &
EA8 Jiménez, 2011; Pozos et al., 2008; Pulido et al., 2011). In terms of age,
Gender female 61 .03* 1.70 1.04 - 2.79 it was found that a relationship exists between a high chronic stress
level and 25 years of age; furthermore, for a high level of academic
Note. Questionnaire Data SSI and ASI, EA3 = classroom intervention, EA8 = compulsory
stress, a significant association was found between situation EA1 and
labor, EA1 = conducting test. OR = Odds Ratio, CI = Confidence Interval.
*p < .05, **p < .01. 23 years of age, and between situation EA3 and 18 years of age. Other
studies differ with these results, indicating that 21-year-old students
are at an increased risk for stress (e.g., Leiner & Jiménez, 2011; López
& López, 2011). The difference between these authors and the work
With regard to these analyses, we have made various contrasts presented here stems from the fact that the association between the
relative to the supposed independence, normality, and situations was more specific both for chronic stress as well as for the
homoscedasticity. In this sense, we must review the data, which does different situations of academic stress. Nevertheless, the average age
not show multicollinearity among the predictor variables. The in this study was 21 years. The age range which showed significant
average of the statistical values of “tolerance” carried out for the association was 18-25 years. Also, it was discovered that there is a
physical, psychological, and behavioral factors was set at .79, with no higher frequency of moderate levels of chronic stress, with a
value below .71. The proximity of these values and the maximum difference of 9.5% over high levels, which should be considered an
value (range 0-1) indicates the independence of the contributions of alarming situation. The instrument used (SSI) is based on
the predictor variables over the values of the eleven academic stress symptomatic evidence, which thereby shows that if no intervention
indicators, thereby showing that the variance of the residuals is strategy to reduce stress levels from moderate to low is put into
constant, proving that the residuals were distributed normally. The place, these rates could elevate to high levels at any moment, putting
average of the value (VIF = 1.24), with no value below 1.05, shows health and academic performance at risk. This could result in low
that there was no a collinearity problem. scholastic achievement or desertion by the students.
52 B. E. Pozos-Radillo et al. / Psicología Educativa 20 (2014) 47-52
This study has among its strengths the large and representative
sampling of students. In this sample 54% of total enrollment for
physical education and sports majors of this university were
interviewed. This includes more students than other studies
concerning academic stress (e.g., Díaz, 2010; Pulido et al., 2011;
Román et al., 2008). It is likewise important to mention the limitations
of this study, which lie principally in the existence of other factors
which could have an influence on chronic and academic stress at the
time the survey was taken, such as the social, economic, and cultural
characteristics which were not evaluated in this study.
In conclusion, our study determined that only the following
situations of the Academic Stress Inventory (ASI), class participation,
obligatory assignments and test taking, are predictive of the
Symptoms of Stress Inventory (chronic stress). Twenty-five-year-old
women are at an increased risk to develop high levels of chronic
stress; also, the 23-year-old female has a higher risk of developing
high levels of academic stress during test taking and for obligatory
assignments. Eighteen-year-old students are at higher risk to develop
high levels of academic stress when faced with class participation in
comparison to males and other ages.
With these results, our work hypothesis is accepted: a positive
relationship of the ASI and the SSI has been determined. A model of
predictive variables such as the association of the variables of 25 and
23 years of age, the female gender having an increased risk of
developing high levels of chronic stress (SSI), and of the situations EA1,
EA3, and EA8 of academic stress ASI, has been established. The exact
identification of the stressors could help reduce and understand the
stress, thereby eliminating the harm they cause, which negatively
affects the academic performance of the students. Therefore the
implementation of educational programs oriented towards the
prevention of stress and its negative effects is recommended in order
to further the capacity of the students to withstand stressful situations.
Conflict of interest
The authors of this article declare no conflict of interest.
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